With up-to-the minute radar in the palm of their hands, Broward County teachers and coaches will start the school year with a new device that can detect whether their students are in danger of lightning and storms during activities. New Android-based phones capable of tracking lighting, heat index, wind speed and other severe weather are starting to be distributed at elementary, middle and high schools — as many as four per school. Broward County School Board director of safety Jerry Graziose spearheaded an effort to improve severe weather detection for public schools since the start of the program in 2006, a year after a Monarch High School student was killed by a lightning strike in Coconut Creek.

WEATHER REPORT. This Is This. Columbia. This Is This marks the 15th anniversary of Weather Report, the influential fusion group that pioneered the dominant role of the synthesizer in modern music and redefined the boundaries of jazz. However, we were expecting a better celebration than this. There are memorable moments here, just as there were on previous Weather Report records. But they are fewer now, less enlightening. On the whole, This Is This marks the continued unfocusing of one of the best groups of the past 20 years.

— Weather report: Gooey white fluff will fall from the sky Saturday. About 30,000 marshmallows will be dropped from a helicopter as part of Hollywood's Spring Marshmallow Drop from 9 a.m. to noon. The event, in its 16th year, will be held at the Boulevard Heights Community Center, 6770 Garfield St. Kids ages 3 to 5 can go on an Easter egg hunt at 10 a.m. The Marshmallow Drop begins at 10:30 a.m. for kids ages 6 to 12. The marshmallows are not for eating, but can be traded in for candy and prizes.

Twenty-one years after his death, the city of Oakland Park has honored jazz legend Jaco Pastorius with a new park and dedication, situated in the heart of the city's downtown corridor. From his early work with Las Olas Brass to his epic albums with the band Weather Report, Pastorius lived, worked and played in his hometown. Many remember him, and some shared his love for music. Pompano Beach resident and musician Billy Arsonal remembers Pastorius as the local musician who played at his teenage hangout creation, Teen Town, at least three or four times.

Will the Joe Zawinul Syndicate`s third album finally be the charm for the unheralded quintet? If Joe Zawinul`s musical history provides an accurate precedent, the answer is yes. In 1973, the standout, Austrian-born keyboardist struck commercial paydirt with Sweetnighter, a techno-funk fusion instrumental disc that was the third release from his eclectic, electric jazz outfit Weather Report. Co-founding saxophonist Wayne Shorter and, later, bassist luminary Jaco Pastorius would help anchor Weather Report`s subsequent hit albums Black Market and Heavy Weather, which contained the much-covered composition Birdland.

A Wilton Manors bottle club manager was sentenced on Monday to 21 months in state prison and five years of probation for the beating death of jazz guitarist Jaco Pastorius. Luc Havan, 26, had been charged with second-degree murder but pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter. Pastorius, 35, died in September 1987 from a beating by Havan outside the Midnight Bottle Club, managed by Havan and owned by his mother. The altercation occurred after Pastorius, who lived the last years of his life on the streets of Fort Lauderdale, was refused entry into the club and began kicking the door in anger.

Wayne Shorter has released his first solo recording in 11 years and unfortunately, seems to miss his compatriots from Weather Report badly. Shorter is indisputably the premier soprano saxophonist recording today and plays almost as well on tenor. First with Miles Davis and later with Weather Report and Herbie Hancock`s VSOP quintet, Shorter has been at the forefront of jazz innovation for the past two decades. His expressionistic "less is more" style redefined the role of the saxophonist, making the sax player a central melodic force rather than just an improviser during breaks.

Miami/Fort Lauderdale`s NBC affiliate, WSVN-Ch. 7, has announced the station will broadcast its entire early evening newscast from the expanded Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport today. A NewsCenter 7 anchor desk for anchors Peter Ford and Sally Fitz will be set up at the airport, and meteorologist Bob Soper is scheduled to deliver his weather report from the cockpit of the first Concorde to land at the airport. NewsCenter 7 also will feature an interview with Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole, who will be present for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Joe Zawinul, the classically trained Austrian pianist who died Tuesday at age 75, became both celebrated and vilified as one of the architects of fusion, a heavily amplified, rhythmically insistent blend of jazz and other music that attracted young audiences and alienated jazz purists. The electrified jazz band Weather Report, which Zawinul led with the saxophonist Wayne Shorter, was in the front ranks of the genre. But he already had an impressive list of accomplishments before Weather Report recorded its first album in 1971, and he remained active and influential after the group disbanded in 1986.

After sweating for months, we're about to cool down. A cold front approaching South Florida is expected to lower temperatures into the mid 60s on Saturday night and Sunday morning. It might be even cooler on Monday morning. Highs are forecast to be in the upper 70s on Sunday and the low 80s on Monday. The cooler, drier air should linger for a couple days after that, said meteorologist Robert Molleda of the National Weather Service in Miami. "It could be a good 10 to 15 degrees cooler than it is now," Molleda said on Wednesday, when temperatures reached the low 90s. If the forecast holds, it would be the first time since April 22 that Fort Lauderdale has seen temperatures in the 60s. Today's forecast: Highs in the lower 90s, lows in the mid 70s and a 20 percent chance of rain.

A storm system that rolled across South Florida on its way to the Atlantic Ocean on Monday brought with it lightning, hail and a whole lot of rain. Experts say Tuesday shouldn't be any different. "The storms will last mostly through the afternoon," said Robert Molleda, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami. "It won't be an all-day washout." Parts of Broward County, including Pompano Beach and Fort Lauderdale, were placed on a flood advisory most of Monday afternoon.

Twenty-one years after his death, the city of Oakland Park has honored jazz legend Jaco Pastorius with a new park and dedication, situated in the heart of the city's downtown corridor. From his early work with Las Olas Brass to his epic albums with the band Weather Report, Pastorius lived, worked and played in his hometown. Many remember him, and some shared his love for music. Pompano Beach resident and musician Billy Arsonal remembers Pastorius as the local musician who played at his teenage hangout creation, Teen Town, at least three or four times.

Listen. I have noticed a disturbing trend online. And that is the seemingly frivolous posting of lots of beautiful people photos and in particular, really sexy women. Yes, I know this is a weather blog. As such, it should only concentrate on weather-related issues. Yet, I felt it important to point out what?s going on. And that is this: Various sites and bloggers are displaying all these provocative photos simply as a means to draw readership. This is really troubling. You have to wonder, don?

Joe Zawinul, the classically trained Austrian pianist who died Tuesday at age 75, became both celebrated and vilified as one of the architects of fusion, a heavily amplified, rhythmically insistent blend of jazz and other music that attracted young audiences and alienated jazz purists. The electrified jazz band Weather Report, which Zawinul led with the saxophonist Wayne Shorter, was in the front ranks of the genre. But he already had an impressive list of accomplishments before Weather Report recorded its first album in 1971, and he remained active and influential after the group disbanded in 1986.

A storm system that rolled across South Florida on its way to the Atlantic Ocean on Monday brought with it lightning, hail and a whole lot of rain. Experts say Tuesday shouldn't be any different. "The storms will last mostly through the afternoon," said Robert Molleda, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami. "It won't be an all-day washout." Parts of Broward County, including Pompano Beach and Fort Lauderdale, were placed on a flood advisory most of Monday afternoon.

Janet Neuschatz remembers seeing a funnel-shaped cloud swirling near her Hallandale Beach home last year after Hurricane Wilma. But back then she didn't know they were called waterspouts or whom she should call to call to report the sighting. "If I would have finally figured out who to call, I wouldn't have known what to say I was looking at," said Neuschatz, 30, a manager at a medical pediatric office in Aventura. Neuschatz learned Saturday when she joined about 70 other residents from Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties at a training session to learn how to observe weather.